Shard skidded to a stop from the from the force of a blow that sent him back no less than ten feet, trying to catch his breath as he quickly looked around, trying to find his attacker. He had just been walking along, searching for berries for the rest of his pack when a voice caught his attention. He had turned around to look, but was slammed by an unseen force which had sent the Sandslash to the ground.

“Good shot Nidoking, now hit it with a Horn Attack!” This time, Shard saw the attack coming, and quickly dodged to the side just as the aforementioned Nidoking blew to the side of him, ramming into a tree that unfortunately blocked it's path. Shard quickly turned to face his attacker, just as it dislodged itself from the tree, leaving a rather good-sized hole in its trunk.

The two Pokémon sized each other up, each waiting for their own cue to start the attack again, which came from the Nidoking's trainer first. “Take Down Nidoking!” The purple behemoth lunged at Shard, but must have still been a little dazed by the impact with the tree, and his aim was a little off, allowing the Sandslash to easily quickly curl into a spiky ball and out-maneuver the attack and quickly circle around the creature, kicking up a lot of dust and sand which buffeted the hapless creature.

“Hey Nidoking, get out of there before you take much more damage!” The trainer pleaded at his Pokémon, but it was no use. Whenever it tried to move away, Shard just followed it around, continuing to violently kick up sand, aiming some at the Nidoking's eyes when it tried to attack. However, his luck ran out when the beast managed to get in a lucky swing with Thrash, sending the Sandslash careening as he tried, and failed, to regain balance before losing his ball shape and rolling uncontrolled in the dirt.

With Shard no longer rolling around, the whirlwind of sand died down and dissipated, leaving a slightly injured, and angry, Nidoking barreling towards him. Before he could even recover, the beast punched him with a mean left hook, before using his powerful tail to knock the mouse Pokémon away and into a large boulder.

Gathering his strength, Shard tried to stand up, putting his right paw on the boulder for balance, but wincing at a sharp pain coming from his arm. Slowly turning to see the cause, he noticed that there was blood dripping down from two holes where his claws used to be. Cursing under his breath, he told himself they would grow back, and that he had bigger problems to take care of at the moment as he swallowed his pain and lifted himself to his feet.

The trainer seemed to be beside himself that he was winning the battle, and called out to his Pokémon “It's almost over Nidoking, now finish it off with Giga Impact”

The Nidoking started to charge right at Shard, but something was not right. He was not moving anywhere near a straight line, and soon collapsed on his own weight from the confusion left by the random thrashing about. Shard took what he assumed was his last chance, and with every bit of will and power he had left, slammed his left claw into the soil beneath him.

At first, nothing happened, but soon the ground started quaking as Shard unleashed magnitude directly under the dazed Nidoking, who couldn't get a footing between the shaking earth and his own confusion. After trying twice to stand up and immediately falling over, hitting his head on numerous rocks, the beast stood at last, giving off one final roar before collapsing, unable to continue the fight any longer.

“No, Nidoking, Return!” The trainer pointed his ball at the Pokémon, who was in turn engulfed in a bright red glow before disappearing from Shard's sight. “Don't worry buddy, we'll get you fixed up in no time” The trainer said as he quickly hurried off in the direction of the nearest Pokémon Center.

Finally feeling his own fatigue take over, Shard slowly slumped up against the boulder that had steadied him moments ago, and slowly started to lose consciousness. Before everything faded to black, he could hear voices in the distance.

“Hey, there he is. Guys! I found him!”

“Oh no, he looks like he is in pretty bad shape”

“He should be fine just-” the voice huffed a bit “ Help me carry him back to the den, well get Audino to fix him up when we get back”

___________________________________________________________________________________

Night came and went, and soon enough the morning sun crept onto Shard eyelids, causing him to stir a bit, but feeling too sore to move. He opened his eyes to look around, trying to piece together what had happened after the fight, when an Audino peeked her head around the corner, hearing a some movement.

“Oh good, you are awake” She said, her voice so soft as the wind moving through the trees, that Shard almost did not hear her.

“Where....where am I?” he asked, still not sure of his surroundings, his vision was still foggy from having just woken up, and he tried to sit up to look around, but immediately collapsed back down with a sharp pain in his side.

Audino quickly moved to his side to try to keep him from moving too much “Whoa there, you probably shouldn't move around right now. You took quite the beating from that Nidoking, I honestly was not sure if you were going to be alright after you slept for four days straight”

As he tried to settle back in, Shard mumbled under his breath, still to drained to speak up much louder “Four days... Heh... Sounds about right” He winced a bit, trying to not show just how much he was hurting at that moment

Moving around to Shard's arm, Audino very carefully unwrapped he bandages made of large leaves from the surrounding forest and observed the arm. She sighed a bit under her breath, before walking over to a small basket and removing two large leaves. She laid the first one on the ground, and unfolded the second one, revealing a sweet-smelling nectar in the middle. Taking a rather generous amount in her paw, she started to rub the salve onto the first leaf, darkening its color a bit as it became moist with the medicine.

Picking up the soaked leaf, she walked over to shard's right paw “This may sting a little, please bear with me on this” She began to apply the bandage, starting where his claws should have been and slowly wrapped the arm all the way down to his elbow. She wasn’t kidding when she said it would sting, as Shard grimaced, feeling as though a Ninetails had just used Flamethrower on his arm.

“There, you should heal up fine in a few days, but I would like you to not move around as much as possible. Your ribs were cracked and your arm was in really bad shape when your pack brought me to you”

“My claws” Shard said weakly, staring at his right paw “Why... why have they not begun to grow back?

Audino sighed as she held his arm in place “Your claws were not completely broken, but when they snapped, the fractured all the way down to the bones of your wrist.” She pointed a little further down his paw, just at the edge of the bandage “I had to remove them, or you would have been in agonizing pain for the rest of your life.”

Before Shard could think about it any further, the sound of someone clearing their throat caught his attention. With great effort, he turned over to see who else was there. Standing in the passageway was a rather imposing, if not aged, Sandslash, who he instantly recognized as Andesite, the pack's matriarch.

“How are you feeling, Shard?” She asked as she slowly made her way to his bed side.

Shard tried to sit up, but immediately fell back to his bed, bones and joints cracking when he landed. “It's not as bad as it looks, I promise” He managed with a slight grin.

“No,” the matriarch began, turning to face Shard “But it's as bad as it sounds. You can not fool me child.”

Shard looked straight into her eyes, knowing she could not 'see' him back. Andesite had been blind for as long as he could remember, but she had the sharpest hearing of his den-mates, and even in her old age, the sharpest mind. Even without her sight, she managed to know everything going on around her.

“Never could, grandmother.” Shard winced as Audino straightened him back out, quietly mumbling about telling him to keep still and other things.

“Shard,” Her voice dropping slightly to a slightly sad tone “As your grandmother I am happy to see that you are alive, but as the matriarch I am going to have to ask you to leave our pack when you are fully healed.”

Finding new energy, Shard forced the pain from his mind as he quickly turned to stare at his grandmother “I do not understand, why must I leave?” he asked, rage and sorrow mixing in his voice.

“Please understand my decision, Shard” Andesite began, turning towards the passageway out “Recently the Pokémon of the forest have become increasingly agitated. There is also more humans about than ever before in my years of living here. We need all our defenders in top condition, so we do not endanger ourselves”

“Then you need me to stay, you need me to-” Shard sentence was cut off as the matriarch spun around and lightly tapped his right arm where his claws would have been with her own, sending a sharp pain through his arm, causing him to growl in pain.

“No Shard, you can not fight, not in your condition.” She lowered her arm back down “I cannot endanger the rest of the pack because of my own feelings. Even when you are finished healing, you will not have the balance you once had, you will be clumsy, and I can not rely on you to keep the children safe”

Shard again tried to sit up, to face his grandmother, but Audino easily held him down, repeatedly telling him to stop moving or he would reopen a wound “But I can still...” he cut his sentence short, seeing Andesite's eyes. Tears were streaming down them, showing how much she hated delivering her message.

“Please Shard” she softly begged “Do not make this any harder on you or I as it already is. I do not wish to do this, but please understand. The needs of the many far outweigh the those of the few. You are old enough to protect yourself, I just can't entrust you with the safety of the pack”

Shard did not move momentarily, shocked at the decision. He knew she was right, and so he lay back down with Audino's help. “I understand grandmother, I will leave when my wounds are healed” A tear slowly streamed down his cheek as he spoke the words, accepting his fate.

“Thank you child” She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, before walking out through the door and out of his sight.

It was nearly two cycles of the moon before Shard was ready to leave. He had spent the last few days trying to get used to the feeling of his right claws being gone. Andesite was right, he was clumsy, and could hardly walk straight, let alone slash his left claws without looking like a newborn Sandshrew. He still ached from his injuries, but they were within tolerable levels he told himself, and he was not going to let himself be a burden on his pack if he could help it.

The tunnels in the mountain that made up his pack's den were large, easily able to fit three or four Pokémon walking side by side, and stretching in every possible direction. Most of the living quarters and food stores were in the back, allowing the eighty-something Pokémon an extra line of defense if an intruder made it in.

As Shard made his way out, however, he noticed there was very little traffic. Usually, the tunnels were bustling with Sandslash and Sandshrew moving to and fro, carrying on with their daily duties. Today though, there were only a few around, mostly the females, the elderly, and the children. 'Everyone else must be sleeping' he thought, knowing that they are used to gathering in the night to help avoid confrontation with the other forest denizens.

As he made his way closer to the exit, however, he was greeted by two rows of his pack-mates, leading towards Andesite, who patiently waited for him at the end of the rows, standing next to Audino.

“My dear, I hope you feel no ill will towards me or the rest of the pack for asking you to leave” Andesite spoke to him as Shard made his way towards her. The crowd moved in closer, keeping a set distance him as he stopped just before her.

“No matriarch, I do this for the good of my brothers and sisters, my mothers and my fathers. I understand completely” Despite his cool exterior, Shard was doing his best to not choke. He wanted to leave with Andesite have as little worries of him as possible. He did not want to leave, but over the days he came to agree with her reasoning.

“I'm glad Shard.” The matriarch smiled as she lay her claws across his shoulders “You are strong, and I believe on your own, with your will and cunning, you will survive. “She pulled Shard into a deep hug.

As she released him, Shard turned around to face his brothers, the ones he was now leaving with the task of guarding the den in his absence. All at once, the dipped their heads, held their lefts paws down and crossed their chests with the right claws in a salute to their brother. Shard returned the gesture, reversing the motions to cross with his left claws instead, before turning back to face Andesite.

Audino stepped forward, and handed a small pack made of a large leaf from the trees “Here, this is the paste that I used on your arm. On normal wounds, it is very fast acting, but please do be careful.” Using a vine connected to the pouch, Shard tied it around his right arm, pulling on it to make sure it wouldn't slip off.

Andesite faced Shard, a soft smile crossed hip features as he approached one last time “Be safe, my grandson” she said as he walked past.

“I will grandmother, and you keep them all safe until I return” Shard replied, setting his right paw on her shoulder as he moved on.

With the last good-byes exchanged, Shard walked off deeper into the forest, nobody moving until he had disappeared from their sights as he moved around a tree.

As he disappeared, the group broke up, except one elderly Sandslash who approached the matriarch. “Dear, in the many years you have led our group I have never once questioned your decisions without question, but I have to ask. Why did you tell Shard he had to leave the pack?”

Andesite sighed as she leaned against the other Sandslash's arm “Because my love, he would have never left if I did force him. I had planned on having him leave the week after his accident anyways, this just gave me a reason he would believe.”

“But do you not feel bad for lying to him? He is at a disadvantage now, much more vulnerable to the dangers of the world.” The patriarch of the pack stated.

“Yes” She replied “But that just means he will be that much more determined to prove his own worth to himself. He wants to believe that he can be strong enough to succeed, and I believe he can overcome any trial that comes his way.”

A moment later, the pair turned towards their den, no longer needing to feel worried at Shard's fate, both feeling that he will be just fine in his travels, looking forward to the day he returns.